Early hardships made Xi into a man of the people
Source: Xinhua |
December 24, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Xi Jinping, the recently elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, was an "educated youth" in rural China, an experience that left a lasting impression.
A son of Xi Zhongxun, a Communist revolutionary hero and former vice premier, Xi did not enjoy a life of comfort as a boy. He was born on June 15, 1953, but from 1962, when his father fell into disgrace, Xi experienced tough times. During the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), he suffered public humiliation and hunger, experienced homelessness and was even held in custody.
At the age of 16, he volunteered to live in a small village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province as an "educated youth." The area was where the Communist revolutionaries, including his father, rose to found the New China.
Life was hard. In the beginning, fleas troubled him so badly he found it difficult to sleep. In the Shaanxi countryside, he had to do all sorts of labor, such as carrying manure, hauling a coal cart, farming and building water tanks.
But as time passed, tough work became easy. The villagers began to take note of the hardworking and capable young man and, by gaining their trust, he was elected village Party chief.
He led the farmers to reinforce the river bank in a bid to prevent erosion, organized a small cooperative of blacksmiths in the village, and built a methane tank, the first in landlocked Shaanxi.
He was once awarded a motorized tricycle after being named a "model educated youth."
However, he exchanged the tricycle for a tractor, a flour milling machine and farm tools to benefit the villagers.
Although he was not in school, Xi never stopped reading. He brought a case of books to the village and was always "reading books as thick as bricks," the villagers in Liangjiahe recalled.
He formed close ties with the villagers during his seven years in the province.
After he was recommended for enrollment at Tsinghua University in 1975, all the villagers lined up to bid him farewell and a dozen young men walked more than 30 kilometers to take him to the county seat for his trip back to Beijing.
Xi never forgot the villagers. Even after he left, he helped the village get access to power, build a bridge and renovate a primary school. When he was Party chief of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, he returned, going door by door to visit people. He gave senior villagers money, and presented children with new schoolbags, school supplies and alarm clocks.
When a farmer friend got sick, Xi, at his own expense, brought him to Fujian for medical treatment.
Xi's affection for the people influenced a number of critical decisions. In the 1980s when many of his contemporaries were going into business or going abroad to study, he gave up an office job in Beijing to work as deputy Party chief of a small county in north China's Hebei Province. Later he became Party chief of Ningde Prefecture in Fujian, one of the poorest regions at the time.
In Ningde, he sometimes traveled for days on roads so bumpy he had to take breaks to recover from back pain.
He once walked nearly five hours on a mountain road to get to a township called Xiadang which was not otherwise accessible, and received the most passionate welcome from villagers, who said Xi was "the highest-ranking official who has come to the village."
He also helped thousands of farmers in Ningde renovate dilapidated thatched houses and guided fishermen to live better lives on the land.
When Party chief of Fuzhou, he took the lead in the country in establishing a mechanism for officials to meet petitioners face to face. Once, he and other senior officials met more than 700 petitioners in two days.
While working in east China's Zhejiang Province, he went into a coal mine nearly 1,000 meters underground and walked more than 1,500 meters along a narrow shaft to visit miners and see their working conditions in 2005.
Shanghai was Xi's last local post before he was promoted to the central leadership. In 2007, he was appointed secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee. He left his mark on the country's financial capital by promoting the economic integration of the Yangtze River Delta and enhancing Shanghai's leading role in the region.
Xi's work style has earned him the nickname "secretary of the people."
"Officials should love the people in the way they love their parents, work for their benefit and lead them to prosperity," Xi has said.
A son of Xi Zhongxun, a Communist revolutionary hero and former vice premier, Xi did not enjoy a life of comfort as a boy. He was born on June 15, 1953, but from 1962, when his father fell into disgrace, Xi experienced tough times. During the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), he suffered public humiliation and hunger, experienced homelessness and was even held in custody.
At the age of 16, he volunteered to live in a small village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province as an "educated youth." The area was where the Communist revolutionaries, including his father, rose to found the New China.
Life was hard. In the beginning, fleas troubled him so badly he found it difficult to sleep. In the Shaanxi countryside, he had to do all sorts of labor, such as carrying manure, hauling a coal cart, farming and building water tanks.
But as time passed, tough work became easy. The villagers began to take note of the hardworking and capable young man and, by gaining their trust, he was elected village Party chief.
He led the farmers to reinforce the river bank in a bid to prevent erosion, organized a small cooperative of blacksmiths in the village, and built a methane tank, the first in landlocked Shaanxi.
He was once awarded a motorized tricycle after being named a "model educated youth."
However, he exchanged the tricycle for a tractor, a flour milling machine and farm tools to benefit the villagers.
Although he was not in school, Xi never stopped reading. He brought a case of books to the village and was always "reading books as thick as bricks," the villagers in Liangjiahe recalled.
He formed close ties with the villagers during his seven years in the province.
After he was recommended for enrollment at Tsinghua University in 1975, all the villagers lined up to bid him farewell and a dozen young men walked more than 30 kilometers to take him to the county seat for his trip back to Beijing.
Xi never forgot the villagers. Even after he left, he helped the village get access to power, build a bridge and renovate a primary school. When he was Party chief of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, he returned, going door by door to visit people. He gave senior villagers money, and presented children with new schoolbags, school supplies and alarm clocks.
When a farmer friend got sick, Xi, at his own expense, brought him to Fujian for medical treatment.
Xi's affection for the people influenced a number of critical decisions. In the 1980s when many of his contemporaries were going into business or going abroad to study, he gave up an office job in Beijing to work as deputy Party chief of a small county in north China's Hebei Province. Later he became Party chief of Ningde Prefecture in Fujian, one of the poorest regions at the time.
In Ningde, he sometimes traveled for days on roads so bumpy he had to take breaks to recover from back pain.
He once walked nearly five hours on a mountain road to get to a township called Xiadang which was not otherwise accessible, and received the most passionate welcome from villagers, who said Xi was "the highest-ranking official who has come to the village."
He also helped thousands of farmers in Ningde renovate dilapidated thatched houses and guided fishermen to live better lives on the land.
When Party chief of Fuzhou, he took the lead in the country in establishing a mechanism for officials to meet petitioners face to face. Once, he and other senior officials met more than 700 petitioners in two days.
While working in east China's Zhejiang Province, he went into a coal mine nearly 1,000 meters underground and walked more than 1,500 meters along a narrow shaft to visit miners and see their working conditions in 2005.
Shanghai was Xi's last local post before he was promoted to the central leadership. In 2007, he was appointed secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee. He left his mark on the country's financial capital by promoting the economic integration of the Yangtze River Delta and enhancing Shanghai's leading role in the region.
Xi's work style has earned him the nickname "secretary of the people."
"Officials should love the people in the way they love their parents, work for their benefit and lead them to prosperity," Xi has said.
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